Christina and the Secrets of Hogwarts
by Tabby Kitten
Summary: On October 31, 1981, Lilly manages to escape Godric's Hollow with her second child, Christina, but hits her head and loses her memory in the process. In 1993 Christina starts at Hogwarts and discovers much, much more than she bargained for. *May include mild Dumbledore bashing later on*
1. Prologue

"Lilly, take the kids and go! It's him! I'll hold him off!" James leapt from the couch towards the front door.

"Your wand!" Lilly wailed. He'd left his wand on the coffee table.

"Take the kids away! They're most important! Go!"

Lilly sprinted up the stairs into Harry's room and plucked him out of his crib. He'd been woken up by the commotion and was starting to fuss.

"Harry, we have to go away now." Lilly whispered. "You'll be safe. Be strong Harry." Downstairs, something thudded against the floor. "Oh Harry. I'll protect you." She grabbed an emergency diaper bag full of baby essentials and ran into the next room where three-week-old Christina and the emergency portkey were. Christina was still asleep. Lilly grabbed her blankets and all, but then the door burst off its hinges and Voldemort strode in.

"Not my children! Please not them, I'll do anything!"

"Stand aside girl, stand aside!" He walked forward, lifting his wand as Lilly tried to get to the portkey. She was almost there, but Harry started trying to wiggle out of her arms. Blast this new phase of wiggling out of people's arms!

"Harry, no!" Lilly shrieked, but he was walking across the floor and then Lilly had the portkey, and before she could do anything it yanked her and Christina away. They reappeared above Tottenham Court Road, a busy street in muggle London where nobody would bat an eyelid to a family appearing out of thin air. But she'd miscalculated somehow, because they were a hundred feet above it.

"I have to go back!" Lilly howled. "Get Christina to safety, then go back for Harry!" But they were already free falling above street. As the pavement rushed up to meet them, Lilly twisted her body to cushion Christina from the blow. Her head slammed backwards against the pavement and all went dark.


	2. Chapter 1

November 2nd, 1981

Lilly opened her eyes and saw nothing but a barren white ceiling. There was a faint beeping in her ear, like some kind of hospital monitor. She sat up and found that she was, in fact, in a hospital.

"Oh good, you're awake." A nurse came bustling over. "How do you feel? Are you in any pain? Do you know where you are right now?"

Lilly frowned. "I'm in a hospital. But—how did I get here? I was falling. Why was I falling, what was I doing?" She reached for the heart rate monitor attached to her chest and tried to pull it off.

"Leave that on, leave that on, it's important." The nurse cautioned. "A good Samaritan found you and your baby unconscious out on Tottenham Court Road and brought you in."

"My baby? My baby! Christina! Where is she?"

"She's in the pediatric ward. She dislocated her shoulder when she fell, but the doctor reset it and thinks she'll heal up fine. We're just monitoring her for any other things we may have missed."

Lilly felt herself relax a little. Christina was ok. But why had she fallen on Tottenham Court Road? Didn't she live somewhere else?

"The baby's fine." Said the nurse gently. "Do you know why you were out so late with a diaper bag and your baby? Were you escaping an abusive situation?"

Escape did sound right, though Lilly didn't know from who or what. "I don't remember."

"That's all right. You've had quite a nasty concussion. You may have trouble remembering lots of things for a while as your brain heals. Can you tell me what you do remember?"

"My name is Lilly. Christina and I were escaping . . . something. Someone bad. I think I left something important back home . . . I don't know where my home is."

The nurse picked up a clipboard and jotted some notes down. "Excellent. Do you know how old you are? You look like you might be in your late teens or early twenties. If you're under eighteen then that's very serious, because that makes you a minor.

"No, I'm of age. I know that. That was three years ago? Four? No, I'm twenty-one."

"And your daughter? The pediatrician says she's probably three or four weeks old, but maybe you know for sure."

"Three weeks sounds right."

"Ok. Now, do you know your last name? That's another piece of important information."

Lilly frowned again. Nothing was coming to mind. "I . . . I don't know."

"Do you remember the last time you wrote it down? Or someone calling you by it? Did you have a teacher or a schoolmate who might have used it?"

Lilly thought hard. She couldn't remember anyone calling her . . . but wait. Out of the dark depths of her brain, she heard a voice, a young male voice, calling over and over, _Evans . . . Evans . . . hey Evans!_ That had to be it. "Evans. Lilly Evans. Oh, that sounds right. And Christina Evans is my daughter."

One week later Lilly and Christina were discharged from the hospital and given a list of women's shelters nearby. Lilly still didn't remember where she'd lived before, or what she'd left back at her old house. As far as she knew she had no family and no friends. The nurse had asked her if she knew any friend's phone number, but Lilly was adamant that she hadn't touched a telephone since she was eleven. She didn't know why. But she had decided that if she couldn't remember the past, she might as well focus on her future, raise Christina, and create a new life for them in London.


	3. Chapter 2

July 20, 1993

"That's it. 5 o'clock. Quitting time." Said Janice. She put her phone down and gathered up her things. "You coming to happy hour, Lilly?"

"I can't." Lilly replied. "Christina's home alone again."

"Ah. She's not doing that day camp this summer?"

"No, now that she's older I didn't feel the need to enroll her in programs all summer. She'll be twelve in October, she can handle herself for a little while."

"I guess that makes sense. Man, she's growing up fast. Well, I'm heading out. See you on Monday!"

Lilly watched Janice go, then picked up her purse and left. She'd been working as a secretary for a consulting firm for about ten years now, and the company had been a great place for her. They'd taken her on when she was desperate, and even put up with her on her bad days and her need for a calculator for even the simplest math. Her boss had commented before that it was almost like she'd stopped learning math around year seven, and Lilly had to admit that that assessment felt about right.

Despite what the nurse at the hospital had said about brains healing over time, Lilly remembered frustratingly little about her past life. She'd grown up in some place called Cokeworth, then went to school somewhere with that one friend who was always calling her by her last name. After that . . . something. Then she'd had to escape from somewhere with her baby daughter, and then they'd built a life here in London. She had never been able to shake the feeling that she'd left something or someone very important back at her old home. But she never knew what or where it was. Oh well. Bygones were bygones.

Inside their small flat, Christina was on the couch watching tv.c "How'd it go today?" Lilly asked. "Everything's fine?"

Christina nodded. "Michelle came over for a while and we hung out and did manicures. Don't bother looking at the bathroom floor because we cleaned up all the nail polish we spilled. I stayed inside like you told me to."

"Good, good. If you keep up the good behavior we can probably leave you at home the whole summer instead of putting you in those day programs." Lilly set her purse down. "Anyone come to the door? Any phone calls while I was gone?"

Christina shrugged. "Just some telemarketers. They want you to buy their fancy new vacuum cleaners."

"Tell them to bugger off."

"I already did. Hey, what's for dinner?"

"Spaghetti. I'll start on the salad and if you can get a pot of water boiling that would be great."

Christina hopped off the couch and took out their big stock pot from the cupboard. She filled it with water and was about to set it on the stove when there was a knock at the door.

"Now who could that be?" Lilly grumbled. She set down her knife and opened the door to find a very oddly dressed woman on the other side.

"Good evening." Said the woman. "I have a letter here for a Miss Christina Evans, about a boarding school she's been accepted to. If I could come inside, We can talk about the coursework offered and her future."

"Errr . . . all right." Lilly motioned for her to come inside.

"And you must be Christina!" The odd woman exclaimed as Christina shuffled into the living room. "I have a letter with some exciting news for you, but first I have to explain . . . I'm sorry. This is my first time giving out acceptance letters. Usually our deputy headmistress does this, but she's been ill this week. I'm Professor Vector, and I'm here to inform you that you have been accepted to a school called Hogwarts."

Hogwarts. The very name sent shivers down Lilly's spine. It was so familiar and foreign all at once. It stirred up precious few memories form the very depths of her subconscious: pumpkins, a wide, cold lake, a red and yellow striped scarf. Something warm and welcoming.

"What's Hogwarts?" Christina asked. "I didn't apply to any fancy private schools."

"Oh no, you didn't have to apply." Said Professor Vector. "Your name's been on our list since you were very young. Since you're from a muggle family, it would have been since your first signs of accidental magic."

"Accidental what? Mum, did you hear that? Magic?" She gave Professor Vector an uneasy look.

"Accidental magic." Said Lilly slowly. The words felt stiff and strange on her tongue.

"That's right, accidental magic." Said Vector. "Have you ever had weird things happen to you? Something you couldn't explain?"

"Well, there was the time I was running from the cat, and he was angry and I was scared of him." Said Christina. "I ducked behind the couch, but all of a sudden the laundry hamper was overturned on top of him, but I never touched it. He was glaring at me through the holes in the plastic. And there was that time when Jennifer and Caitlin said mean things about me at school, and the next day they both had horrible, horrible acne all over their faces. I thought I just got lucky.

"There you are." Said Vector. "At Hogwarts you learn to control the magic inside you and do spells intentionally. Like this." Vector lifted her wand and conjured a couple monarch butterflies out of thin air. She waved her wand again and they vanished.

"Whoa. Can I really learn to do that?"

"If you come to Hogwarts, then yes. Now, conjuring is advanced magic. You'll start with simpler spells, but you'll get to conjuring eventually. Which brings me to my next point. This letter here is your acceptance letter. We need a response by July 31st. If you've already decided, I can take your response back to the headmaster and let him know right away."

"Ooh Mum I want to go, please can I?"

"Of course." Said Lilly. Something deep in her mind told her yes, this was the right decision, this was safe for Christina.

"Excellent!" Said Vector. "Now, you will need some supplies, books and a wand and that sort of thing." She reached into the envelope with the letter and pulled out the supply list and a simple map of London. "Now, there is a place where you can get all of this, not far from here, off Charing Cross Road. It's called Diagon Alley.

They went to Diagon Alley that very weekend to fix Christina up with everything she might need. The Leaky Cauldron turned out to be just a few stops on the underground, and when they found it they both wondered how they'd walked down this road and missed it all these years.

The interior was dark and smoky, like may other pubs they'd been to but distinctly different. Perhaps it was several cauldrons hung over the grimy fireplace, or maybe it was the oddly dressed patrons with self-stirring cups, or maybe it was the strong feeling of deja vu that slammed Lilly in the face as soon as she stepped inside. It was all so, so familiar, but she couldn't place why or how. Had she been here before?

"Hogwarts firstie?" Asked the bartender.

Christina nodded.

"Excellent. Follow me out back and I'll show you into Diagon Alley." He set down the filthy rag he'd been mopping the bar with and led them out into the little backyard, counted over the bricks on the wall, then tapped one with his wand. The bricks began to shift and re-form until they created the shape of an arch, revealing the crooked little street lined with bright storefronts.

"You'll want to start at Gringotts." Said the bartender. "Big white building down at the end. Exchange your muggle money."

"Thank you." Said Lilly. They set off down the street, stopping to peer in at the little stores as they went. There was a huge crowd gathered outside a place called Quality Quidditch Supplies, mostly teenage boys oggling some kind of broom called the firebolt.

"It's the fastest broom ever!" A boy gushed as they walked past. "Oh, what I'd give to have one of those!"

"Don't even think about it." Said Lilly. "First-years aren't allowed to have their own." She took Christina's arm and pulled her away.

Just a few doors down from Quality Quidditch Supplies was a big store called Flourish and Blotts. "That must be where we get books." Lilly peered into the front window. They both paused to look at something called The Monster Book of Monsters, horrible-looking books with teeth and claws that were literally trying to kill each other.

"I don't want to have to get one of those." Christina muttered.

"I hope I don't have to buy one for you." Said Lilly. "You'd think they'd give that kind of thing to older students who know some spells to subdue it."

They both shuddered and kept walking toward Gringotts. When they entered they came into a huge entrance hall with vaulted ceilings. It was deathly quiet inside, and the only sounds that could be heard were their footsteps and the scratching of quills held by the goblins. The wizarding families went directly to the teller at the back of the room, where he pointed them toward vaults. Lilly watched them intently while Christina looked around. She tugged on her mother's sleeve and pointed toward a counter to the left labeled Currency Exchange. Even better, there was a family who looked quite non-magical was already there.

"First time?" The father asked as they drew close. "That was us last year. Our Colin's starting his second year, and we're all much more used to this stuff this time around. I'm Bob Creevey, this is my wife Linda, and our boys Colin and Dennis." He gestured to two small boys, the older of whom was fiddling with a camera. "Hello." Said Christina.

The taller boy turned around. "Hi! I'm Colin. Always great to meet other muggleborns at Hogwarts!"

"Does it make a difference, being from a muggle family?" Christina asked.

"No! Well, last year I got petrified because I was a muggleborn, not like terrified, like literally turned solid and I couldn't move. But that's not a normal thing!" He quickly added. "There was this really bad thing with a giant snake that got out of hand. But it's cool! They revived me with mandrake juice. It was awesome!"

"Is Hogwarts . . . safe?" Christina asked.

"Safest place in the world!" Said Colin. "The giant snake was a one-time thing. This year should be much calmer!"

Lilly turned away from the desk with a bag of wizarding money in her hand. "You ready to go, Christina? We've got things to buy. It was very nice meeting you, Creevey family."

"Bye!" Said Colin. "Hey, maybe we'll see each other on the train!"

"What was that he was saying about a giant snake?" Asked Lilly.

"Apparently some giant snake came along and paralyzed him, but he was ok eventually." Christina shrugged. "I guess it's gone now."

"I guess that's what you get at a magic school. Here, let's see what you need." She took the list from Christina and they both read it up and down. "Lots of books, black robes, a cauldron, a wand . . . This is a lot of stuff. I guess we'd better get started."

Several hours later they were finally finished with their shopping and toted their purchases back onto the underground. Christina left her mother to carry the boring items like robes and books while she clutched the most important ones: her new wand and her new owl. After some deliberation and some advice from the witch at the animal shop, she'd selected a beautiful owl. She'd thought about a cat, but they didn't carry mail and shed fur on everything. Her owl was a delicate snowy owl whom she'd named Sprinkles for the small dark flecks in her feathers. The other important possession was her new wand, oak wood and unicorn hair, ten inches long. Christina gripped the top of the cage and the wand box tightly as the train rumbled along. She was going to a real magic school!


	4. Chapter 3

The morning of September first dawned crisp and clear. Despite the fact the fact that King's Cross station wasn't that far away, Christina had been up since six double-checking that she'd packed everything. The new books and school supplies were safely stowed in her trunk, along with her robes and several items of muggle clothing. Christina had heard that Hogwarts was a big and drafty castle, and had packed fuzzy socks and her warmest sweaters to offset the cold. At the last minute she squashed her pillow in, too, in case the pillows at school were weird. She had a few personal items, too: her diary, her teddy bear, some family photos, a box of butterfly clips, and her favorite nail polish.

"You got everything?" Lilly asked.

"I think so."

"Good. Let's get to that station. You don't want to miss the train." She picked up one end of the the trunk and Christina took the other, and they were able to get it all the way down the stairs of the apartment building and out to the car.

The station was bustling with people. Most of them looked like normal people traveling to mundane places, but Christina saw a few other kids her age with trunks and owls. Seriously, how did the muggles never notice them? She and Lilly followed them deeper into the station as Lilly took the ticket to see which platform they were on.

"Platform nine and three quarters? What on earth?"

"Nine and three quarters?" Christina stopped. They were standing by platform nine. After that was platform ten, and then platform eleven. There was no nine and three quarters in sight.

"It must be here somewhere." Said Lilly. "It's probably like the Leaky Cauldron. Hiding in plain sight."

"Mum, look!" Said Christina. Some of the other kids with trunks and owls had drawn level with them. They watched as one boy stood directly across from the barrier between nine and ten, then took his trolley and began running. They both winced as he barreled toward the barrier, but instead of colliding with it he went right through.

"It all makes sense!" Said Christina. "It's between platforms nine and ten! Come on, Mum!" She took her trolley and they both ran though the barrier. On the other side they barely had time to register the red train and the crowds of teenagers on the platform before they were nearly run over by the group coming behind them, a large family of mostly redheads with several trunks, a couple owls, and a large, angry cat.

"I bet we could pass ourselves off as part of that family if we really wanted to." Said Lilly.

"You could." Said Christina. Her own hair was a dark shade of auburn, but really only looked red when the sun shone on it.

Lilly checked her watch. "Train leaves in eight minutes. We'd better get you on board." She hugged Christina tightly. "Be good. Stay safe. Do all your homework on time. Try to avoid run-ins with any giant snakes. I'll see you at Christmas. I love you."

"Bye Mum." Said Christina. "Love you too." She stepped away and climbed onto the train, clutching Sprinkles' cage in her free hand.

Lilly stepped back and began to wave, frowning slightly. She had the same feeling of deja vu that she'd had in the leaky cauldron, like she'd been here before. But hadn't everyone been to King's Cross, at one point or another? But no. Lilly had stood here too, on this very platform. She remembered now. She'd been clutching the cold handle of a luggage trolley, her black robe floating in the breeze, while the scarlet engine stood huffing and puffing to one side.

"You're a freak, Lilly!" A shrill voice screamed. Who was it? It was someone familiar—what was her name? Tuna? No, Tuney. Someone named Tuney hadn't wanted her to go.

Lilly's head snapped up. Christina was still hanging out of the train window, ready to watch the station fade away as the train started to move. "Christina! I went here too! I know I did!" Lilly had to jog to keep up with the train.

"What? What did you say?"

"I . . . went to school . . ." Lilly panted, but it was no use. The train was gathering speed and already gliding out of sight.

Christina watched the station zip by, then took the end of her trunk and set off to find a compartment. She'd hardly gone two feet before she bumped into the tall, pompous-looking boy from the family that had nearly trampled her on the platform. "Sorry!" She squeaked.

"That's quite all right." He said, offering his right hand. "I'm Percy Weasley, and I'm head boy this year."

"I'm Christina. What's head boy?"

Percy shook her hand very firmly. "As head boy, I help with discipline and orderliness. I also oversee all the prefects in the school. If you're ever lost or confused, you can come find me or a prefect and we'll sort you out. It is my honor and pleasure to serve this school as head boy."

"More like bighead boy!" A small redhead yelled as she ran past them.

"Shut it, Ginny, or I'll dock points before we've even left London! I am head boy and you will address me as such!" He turned back to Christina. "That's my younger sister Ginny."

Ginny Weasley had circled back to them with Colin Creevey in tow. "Is that a new first year, Percy?" She turned to Christina. "Don't be scared, we're not all like Percy. Some of us know how to have fun!"

"Hi Christina!" Said Colin. "Ginny, she's the one I met in Diagon Alley." He looked over Christina's shoulder and called out, "Hiya Harry!" Christina turned and saw a dark-haired boy groan and immediately walk back the other direction. "That's my friend Harry." Colin went on. "He's super cool. He saved Ginny from the giant snake last year!"

"Shut it!" Said Ginny, who had turned very red.

"Not to be rude, but he doesn't look like he wants to be friends with us." Said Christina.

"I think I kind of got on his nerves because I really wanted a picture of him. But this year we can start fresh! Did you know that wizarding photographs move?" He started to babble about photography before Ginny grabbed his arm and dragged him away.

"Come on Colin, Luna told me she's found a compartment in the next carriage. Christina, we also found a compartment of first years over there if you want to get to know some people in your year."

"Oh, ok, thanks!" Christina took her trunk and dragged it to the aforementioned compartment, which held three confused-looking first years. "Can I sit here? Someone told me you guys were all first years too."

"Sure! The more the merrier!" A girl with long curly blonde hair scooted over to make room for Christina. "I'm Samantha, but most people just call me Sam. What's your name?"

"I'm Christina."

"Nice to meet you, Christina." Said the boy opposite Sam. "I'm Derrick."

"And I'm Abigail." Said the girl next to Derrick. "We were just talking about the sorting. Do you have any idea what house you might get into?"

"Not really." Said Christina. "Can someone give me a run-down of the houses again? I'm not from a magical family so I don't know them very well."

"Sure." Said Sam. "There's Ravenclaw, which is the smart house, but apparently it's also called the nerd house. My mum thinks I might be Ravenclaw material. There's Gryffindor, which is supposedly the brave house, but my brother calls it the house for impulsive dumbasses. There's Hufflepuff, which is kind of a mixed bag but mostly really nice people. Then there's Slytherin. That's the evil house. There's not a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin."

"What if I get put in Slytherin?" Christina squeaked.

"You said you're from a non-magic family?" Said Derrick. "Then you don't have to worry. Slytherin house hates muggle-borns and doesn't think they should be at Hogwarts. Don't worry though, it's three nice houses against one bad house and the others all welcome muggle borns. Hey, what's your family like? Were they surprised when they found out you were magic?

Christina sighed. "Well, it's just been me and my mum as long as I can remember. She's a secretary. She actually seemed pretty ok with me being magic. And no, I don't know anything about my dad. My mum had a bad concussion when I was a baby and doesn't remember anything before she was twenty-one. I think I might be the product of a one-night stand."

"Hey, maybe your dad's still out there somewhere." Said Abigail. "Maybe he's secretly magic!"

"My brother says Hogwarts is like a whole new family," Sam continued, "So maybe if you don't have a whole lot of family back home, you add on some more here."

Christina laughed and sat back in her seat. Judging by what she'd already seen on the train, Hogwarts was going to be grand.

The train ride itself was grand, too. A witch came by with a trolley piled high with candy, and they all bought a lot because they had pocket money and no parents to tell them no. A little later a pair of twins, more Weasleys, came by and asked if they knew where their brother Ron was sitting and explained that they had a large tarantula they wanted to surprise him with. It started raining at some point and only got worse as the sky got darker, but did nothing to dampen the mood inside. That is, until the train came to a screeching halt.

"What's happened? Why are we stopping?" Abigail shrieked as her cauldron cakes went flying. "We're not there yet, are we?"

"No, they would've told us if we'd arrived." Said Sam. "It must be for something else."

The temperature dropped sharply and ice began to web across the windows. Christina and her new friends huddled together in the center of the compartment for warmth. Christina felt something dark and heavy seep into her bones, imbibing her with a feeling of hopelessness and despair. She felt like sinking onto the floor and never getting up again. Then the compartment door opened and a hand reached inside. Christina followed the hand up to a hideous creature in long black robes, wheezing loudly as it brought a draft of cold air into the compartment. Christina tried to back away, but suddenly the compartment was gone and she was no longer in control of her body.

All was dark and she was free-falling in the cold air. Someone near her was screaming horribly. "I have to go back!" The voice howled. It sounded familiar, but Christina couldn't place it. She heard a muffled thump, like a body hitting the ground, then a terrible throbbing ache in her left shoulder. She gasped for air, and suddenly she was back on the train. The lights were back on and the horrible creature was gone.

"Ohmygod she's awake." A voice said.

Christina sat up and found Abigail's thick cardigan draped over her. "What happened? What was that thing?" She rolled her left shoulder backward until she heard it pop loudly.

"You passed out and started twitching." Said Derrick. "It was really scary. We were all affected, but you were the only one who passed out."

"That thing was a dementor." Said Sam. She sounded very angry. "They're some of the most vile creatures that walk this earth. They make you feel depressed and sad, and they make you remember the worst things in your life. They're not supposed to prey on students like this."

"I saw my Grandma die all over again." Abigail whispered hoarsely. "But I didn't pass out. Why did you?"

Christina shrugged. "I heard someone screaming, then I felt an ache in my left shoulder. Mum says I dislocated that shoulder the night she had her concussion. Maybe it made me remember my mum's accident."

"That's probably it." Said Sam. "Are you ok? My mum helps create policies for dealing with dementors at the ministry. She says those things can really mess you up."

"No, I'm already feeling better." Christina picked herself up off the floor.

They must have been close to their destination when the dementors boarded, for a short time later the train had chugged into Hogsmeade station and they were told to disembark. The rain had finally stopped and stars were staring to wink through the clouds.

"Firs' years!" A voice boomed. "Firs' years over here!" A man twice the size of any normal human was wading through the crowd of students, first years clinging to his overcoat like lost ducklings.

"That's Hagrid." Said Sam. "He's going to row us across the lake so we can come in the fancy way for our sorting. Everyone else goes up to the school in carriages."

"No more than four to a boat!" Hagrid called as he lead them toward the lake. "Any more than four and we capsize and then I have to fish yeh out o' the lake!"

Christina, Sam, Derrick, and Abigail got a boat together and pushed it out into the lake. The oars cast ripples into the smooth dark water as Derrick pulled them along with the rest of the group.

"Keep on coming!" Hagrid called. "we've got to make it all the way to the boathouse! And up there, you'll get your first view of Hogwarts!" Christina looked up and saw the castle swing into view, ablaze with light, more beautiful than she could have ever imagined. She kept gazing at all the little lights in the windows, trying to imagine what was inside them all, until Derrick pulled them into the boathouse and their boat scraped against the dock. Once everyone was unloaded, Hagrid took them up to the base of the castle and let them inside.

"All right, Hagrid?" A very small man opened up the door. "No one fell in this year?"

"Nah, they're all dry and presentable." Said Hagrid.

"Excellent." Said the small man. "Welcome, first years. In just a few minutes the sorting ceremony will begin! My name is Professor Flitwick and I am head of Ravenclaw house! When you have been sorted, you will proceed to your house table. Your house is too be like your family here; you share a table, dormitories, and a common room. That being said, we do encourage you to have friends in other houses as well. Professor Sprout has asked me to let you know that Hufflepuff especially loves visitors! Any questions?"

"My sister told me McGonagall always does the sorting!" Someone piped up from the back of the group.

"Under normal circumstances, yes. However," Flitwick went on, "She is currently dealing with business related to the dementors boarding the train earlier." He paused. "Anymore questions? No? Excellent! Let the sorting begin!" He turned around and threw open the doors to the great hall.


	5. Chapter 4

The first years formed a long line in the great hall as Professor Flitwick took a very old, dirty hat and set it out on a stool. "When I call your name, come forward and place the hat on your head. After the hat calls your house, take it off and go to your house table."

"A hat?" Christina mouthed to Sam. They both watched Professor Flitwick call up the first person and place the hat on his head. Silence for a minute or two, then a tear at the hat's brim opened wide.

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat shouted. The boy took it off and ran to the Slytherin table. Christina felt herself relax a little. This would be simple, right?

A few people later, Flitwick called, "Cramer, Abigail." Abigail stepped out of the line and put the hat on. A few seconds later the hat called, "Gryffindor!" Christina, Sam, and Derrick clapped along with all the Gryffindors as Abigail squeezed onto a bench next to the Weasley twins.

And a few people after that, Flitwick called, "Evans, Christina!" Knees shaking, Christina walked forward and dropped the filthy hat over her head.

"Interesting." A little voice said inside her head. "Not bad, not bad. Now where to put you? A good mind, kind and friendly, strong and inquisitive." The hat paused for a minute. "I think the perfect place for is—GRYFFINDOR!" Beaming, Christina took off the hat and ran to the Gryffindor table. Wherever Sam and Derrick ended up, she had at least one friend in the same house.

As the sorting went on, Sam ended up in Ravenclaw and and Derrick ended up in Hufflepuff. Christina thought Sam was an excellent match for Ravenclaw, and Derrick an excellent match for Hufflepuff. And she was glad none of her new friends had ended up in Slytherin. When he'd finally gotten through all the first-years, Flitwick rolled up his sheet of parchment and took the stool and hat away. As Flitwick shuffled away with the hat, two students awkwardly shuffled into the hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Harry Potter and Hermione Granger." Ginny whispered to Christina and Abigail. "I think McGonagall wanted to talk to them about something."

Meanwhile, Professor Dumbledore had gotten up. "Welcome to Hogwarts, and welcome back to our returning students. I look forward to another year together. However, before we can begin the feast, I have some important announcements. The first is this: Due to recent events in the wizarding community, the ministry has decided to place dementors at every entrance to the school to guard it. These creatures are incredibly dangerous and I advise you not to go near them for any reason ever. They will not know to stop and let students pass, and they will not be fooled by tricks or disguises." Dumbledore paused for a moment. "Now, on to lighter announcements. Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you once again that the forbidden forest is off limits to all students and that fanged frisbees and ever-bashing boomerangs are still banned." Was it Christina's imagination, or did Dumbledore look pointedly at the Weasley twins?

"Now on to faculty changes for the coming year." He continued. "First up, in the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Remus Lupin!"

A tall, thin, greying man with scars across his face stood up and the school half-heartedly clapped for him.

"That post is cursed." Ginny whispered. "We get a new DADA professor every year."

"In addition, our Care of Magical Creatures professor, Professor Kettleburn, has retired in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs. To fill that position, I am pleased to appoint . . . RUBEUS HAGRID!"

Hagrid stood up sheepishly as the whole school erupted in furious applause. Fred and George Weasley actually climbed up on the table and started cheering, and were quickly followed by Harry and Ron.

"Thank you, thank you for your enthusiasm!" Dumbledore called over the noise. "Now—dig in!" He picked up his fork and knife and food of all kinds appeared on each table. People immediately began reaching for dishes they wanted and piling their plates high with food. Christina inhaled a full plate of roast beef, mashed potatoes, roasted broccoli, and several delicious soft bread rolls before she came up for air.

"Good, isn't it?" Said Ginny, who was devouring a plate of lasagna. "The first-year fifteen is very, very real."

Christina nodded and reached for another platter, but Ron Weasley got to it first.

"A word of advice, since we'll be at the same table as Ron for the next several years," Said Ginny, "He can get very hangry and it's really scary."

"I'll keep that in mind." Said Christina. "Hey, how many Weaselys are there exactly? Have I met all of you?"

"You've met everyone who's still at Hogwarts." Said Ginny. "There's Percy, who's in seventh year, also letting the power of head boy go to his head. There's Fred and George—currently the biggest troublemakers in the school—and then Ron. I'm the youngest. There's also Bill and Charlie. Bill works at Gringotts and Charlie trains dragons in Romania."

"Wow."

"Yeah, we're a pretty big family." Said Ginny. "We're also the biggest blood traitor family in Britain. It's a fun time."

"Blood traitor?"

"Yeah. We're purebloods—wizards all the way back— but we're partial to muggles and muggleborns—Dad collects batteries for fun—so we're seen as going against the pureblood way of life."

"That's . . . that's kind of messed up." Said Abigail, who had been listening in.

"Yeah. I mean, a lot of things in the wizarding world are kind of messed if you think about them long enough. There are lots of people out there who still hate muggleborns."

As the food plates began to disappear, chairs scraped against the stone floor and people started to stand up. "First years!" Percy bellowed. "First years come this way! Come along now, don't fall behind!"

"What is up that guy's ass?" Abigail muttered as she stood up.

"Gred and I think he sat on a broom the wrong way when he was young." Said George.

Percy led them out of the great hall and up the biggest staircase Christina had ever seen. Even worse than its size was the fact that parts of it moved, leaving you with stairs that led nowhere and some the just ended in midair. How was this safe? How could anyone get where they needed to go? When they'd passed the horrors of the moving staircase, Percy led them down a series of long passages lined with portraits who moved and talked. The castle went on and on, and Christina was beginning to think that maybe they'd be wandering the identical-looking stone passages all night, when Percy stopped by a portrait of a fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" She asked.

"Fortuna major." The fat lady nodded and her portrait swung open to reveal a doorway in the wall behind her. "Boys' dormitories to the right, girls to the left!" Percy called as they all scrambled though the portrait hole.

Upon entering the first-year girls' dormitory, Christina saw that all their luggage had been brought up as promised. Even better, there was Gryffindor gear laid out at the ends of each of the six beds: house badges for their robes, house ties, and red-and-gold striped scarves. Already the rest of the girls were piling in behind her.

"We should all introduce ourselves." Said a tall girl as she climbed onto her bed. "I'm Nora Jones."

"Christina Evans."

"Abigail Cramer."

"Jeanie Riggins."

"Nya Lewis."

"Dakota Wells."

"What do you guys think about having dementors on campus?" Asked Dakota as she pulled a set of Chudley Cannons pajamas out of her trunk.

"I don't like it." Said Nya. "They're so awful."

"Why are they even here?" Asked Abigail. "Dumbledore didn't say."

"Are you muggleborn?" Asked Nora. "Then you must not have heard about Sirius Black."

"Who's Sirius Black?"

"Sirius Black is a mass murderer. He killed thirteen people with one curse. He sold out the Potters to the dark lord, and now he's broken out of prison to kill Harry Potter and finish the job."

"Who's the dark lord? Why's he trying to kill Harry Potter?"

"Well, there was this bad wizard. He-who-must-not-be-named. He tried to rule the wizarding world, and he would kill anyone who got in his way. One time he decided to go after this family called the Potters because they were resisting his new regime. He burst inside and killed the father immediately. He did something even worse to the mother and the baby daughter, some kind of dark magic so horrible that even their bodies disappeared, leaving only a snarl of red hair where Mrs. Potter had been standing. Then he tried to kill the other child, Harry, but he couldn't. Harry survived, and the dark lord was vanquished. No one knows how it happened or why he survived." Nora paused, seeming to enjoy the effect she was having on the room. Christina personally thought Nora was spinning it almost like a ghost story, despite the fact that this was a horrible event that had killed multiple people.

"It's ok, though. He's gone." Nora went on. "It happened before we were even born, unless you were born before halloween 1981."

"I was." Said Crhistina. "October 10th."

"Ok, but you're too young to remember it." Said Nora. "And that makes you one of the oldest in this dorm."

"Keep going, I want to see how Sirius Black fits in!" Said Abigail.

"Ok, but don't say I didn't warn you. Sirius Black was the Potters' friend, but he gave away their location to the dark lord so he could come and kill them. Peter Pettigrew, another friend of theirs, confronted Black the next day. Black took out his wand and fired a curse that killed Pettigrew and a bunch of muggles. The biggest piece of Pettigrew that they could find was his finger, which they boxed up and gave to his mother."

"And now he wants to kill Harry Potter?" Abigail asked.

"Don't worry, Hogwarts is the safest place in the world." Said Jeanie Riggins. "Especially with the dementors here. Black won't even try to get inside."

"Did you even read the Daily Prophet?" Asked Nya. "They said it was like the dementors didn't affect him!"

Nora, Jeanie, and Dakota all started trying to tell Nya what they'd seen in the Prophet; meanwhile Christina and Abigail drifted off to their beds.

"What do think about all this?" Abigail asked Christina.

"What do I think? Well, I think Colin Creevey was wrong. He told me this year should be pretty quiet and I think it's gonna be anything but."


	6. Chapter 5

Percy had told them all that Professor McGonagall was the head of Gryffindor house, but Christina didn't actually meet her until the next morning when she came wading through a sea of students, owls, and breakfast platters to hand out course schedules. Christina hadn't been expecting the morning mail delivery and gasped in shock when hundreds of owls fluttered into the great hall. Sprinkles didn't have anything for her, but Christina sent her off with a quick note to her mum saying she'd arrived at Hogwarts safely and was sorted into Gryffindor.

"Come here, first years!" McGonagall called. "I have your course schedules here. Yours are being handed out first, giving you ample time to make it to your first class. You are expected to be on time."

Christina took her schedule and saw that her first class, her first ever one at Hogwarts, was transfiguration. She had no idea where the transfiguration classroom was, and there was no map of the school included.

"Do you think Sam knows where transfiguration room is?" Christina asked Abigail. "She seems to know everything."

"Let's ask. Hey Sam, you know where transfiguration is?"

Sam shook her head. "Come on, guys. I can tell you about the wizarding world but I'm a first-year too. I say we ask an older student."

"Hey Potter!" A loud voice echoed across the great hall. Heads whipped around to see a blond third-year heckling Harry Potter from the Slytherin table. "The dementors too much for you? Should Madame Pomfrey follow you around with a fainting couch in case you pass out again? Wooh look, I think one's coming now!"

"Shut up Malfoy!" Ron bellowed.

"Harry Potter passed out too?" Said Christina.

"Yeah didn't you hear about it?" Said Sam. "All of Ravenclaw was talking about it last night. He was lucky he was in the same compartment as Professor Lupin. Lupin sent him straight to Madame Pomfrey when we arrived."

"That's weird. I wonder why he passed out?"

"Don't go asking him." Said Sam. "I think he's heard enough about it already. We should get to transfiguration."

The diversion in the great hall with Malfoy had cost them valuable time, and they found themselves running through the halls to get to class on time. Even then, the only reason they made it was because of a few helpful directions from Nearly Headless Nick. They ran into the classroom and dropped into their seats just as Professor McGonagall strode in.

"Hello students and welcome to your first class at Hogwarts." The room fell silent. "In this class, you will learn to transform one object into another, starting small and working all the way to transfiguration of large items, animals, and even humans. Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn here, and messing around in this class, in addition to being unacceptable, is also highly dangerous." She paused for a moment to let that sink in. "Now, it is time to get started."

Christina reached into her bag and took out her wand, excited to finally use it. So far the only thing she'd done was get it shoot sparks. Sam had been messing around on the train and accidentally changed Derrick's socks from green to blue, but no one could figure out how she'd done it, least of all Sam herself.

Professor McGonagall was coming around and handing out ordinary kitchen matches. "We're going to start small, turning matches into needles. For those of you who don't know, matches are commonly used by muggles to start fires. Set fire to anything," she added, "And you'll have landed yourself in detention on your very first day."

Professor McGonagall had them openem A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration/em and learn the wand movement and incantation. Feeling rather stupid, Christina waved her wand and recited the incantation. Nothing happened. Was she a failure already?

"Don't worry if nothing happens." Professor McGonagall called out to the class. "It is only your first day, after all."

Christina sighed and waved her wand again. Magic had to get more exciting at some point, right? She looked to her left and saw Abigail struggling just as much, and on her right side Sam was poking her match out of frustration. Christina waved her wand again and thought she saw something change. She picked up her match and, sure enough, a faint blush of silver had appeared on the wooden stick.

Professor McGonagall guided Sam's arm though the wand movement and her match turned silver too, then moved to check on Christina and Abigail. "Any luck, Evans, Cramer?"

Christina picked up her match and showed McGonagall where the match had changed color.

"Excellent. Wonderful job, Miss Evans." The words seemed to catch in her throat as she said them.

After transfiguration they had Defense Against the Dark Arts. Christina thought Professor Lupin might turn out to be boring, but he conducted himself in a manner completely different from McGonagall.

"Welcome to class, first years!" He said. Rather than standing behind his desk, he stood in front of it, casually leaning against it. Behind the desk a large curtain had been drawn across the front of the room, hiding whether he had a chalkboard full of notes or something else entirely. "We're going to start your education in defense with something practical. No note-taking or reading today. Instead, we're working with creatures you may encounter in the real world."

The class looked at each other, some excitedly, some apprehensively, as they took out their wands.

"For my older students I have to undo the damage caused by last year's defense professor, a bumbling fool called Lockhart. But for you lot, we can start fresh! Stand back now!" He waved his wand and the curtain drew away, revealing several clothing racks hung with things that looked a little bit like extra large pink pipe cleaners. He waved his wand again and the racks moved to form two rows, with a narrow walkway between.

"We'll start with learning to identify what is dangerous and what isn't. What we have here are Argentinian Poison-Puffers. They have a mild toxin that will paralyze you for about twelve hours unless you get immediate medical treatment. However, the dead ones do not carry the toxin. There are both live and dead ones on these racks. It will be your task to identify which are safe to touch and which are toxic. If you guess wrong I'll take you down to the hospital wing."

"The hospital wing?" A Hufflepuff squeaked.

"Where our very own Madame Pomfrey will sort you out in a jiffy. Believe me, she's dealt with much worse than poison-puffers. Now, who wants to go first?"

Paolo, a Gryffindor boy, eagerly raised his hand and jumped into the walkway.

"Now be careful, Paolo." Said Lupin. "You don't need to know any spells for this, you just need to look carefully and not let them poke you."

"This one's dead." Said Paolo. "I can tell because its plumage is droopy. Oh, and this one's alive!"

"Good, good. Now don't touch it."

"This is easy!" Paolo took his wand and began poking the poison-puffers, dodging as they swung on the racks and calling out whether they were alive or dead. He turned to face one side of the rack and began poking a dead one, forgetting about the other rack behind him. One reached out and poked the back of his neck, and Paolo crumpled to the floor.

"Lesson number one." Said Lupin. "Don't turn your back on a known opponent. Mr. Sommers, would you please take Paolo down to the hospital wing?"

Andy, Paolo's friend, took Paolo by the ankles and dragged him out of the room.

"He'll be fine." Said Lupin. "There's a fast-working antidote that'll reverse the effects of the poison. Now, who wants to try next?"

Next was a boy from Hufflepuff who managed to get through without being poisoned, and after him Sam took a turn and successfully walked through.

"Who's next?" Lupin asked.

Christina shrugged, then took a step forward and began the course. She noticed how the live poison-puffers would swing a little on the racks, and that their pink plumage was thick and fluffy. By contrast, the dead ones hung limp, and their plumage was a little darker and a little less fluffy. All you had to do was look carefully to spot the live ones, then dodge them. Christina swung left and right, dodging each swing of a poison-puffer. She dipped low to avoid a particularly big one and emerged on the other side of the course, grinning.

"Wonderful, Evans!" Professor Lupin beamed. "Another student who won't need the hospital wing!" He looked up to congratulate her and their eyes met, but he tore his away quickly. Christina shrugged and moved away to stand next to Andy and Paolo, who had just returned from the hospital wing. Derrick was about to go next, and Christina wanted to see how he did.

After the energetic first years had left, Professor Lupin gathered up the racks of poison-puffers to return to Hagrid. So many bright young students had braved the poison-puffers, but he couldn't get little Miss Evans out of his mind. She'd seemed fairly ordinary until she stepped out of the poison-puffer course and he saw her eyes. He knew those eyes. He'd seen them a thousand times before, brimming with laughter and mischief, on one of his best friends. But that couldn't be. He'd been there when Dumbledore confirmed three deaths at the Potter house. And besides, lots of people had hazel eyes. But if he hadn't known better, he'd say those eyes belonged to James Potter's daughter.


	7. Chapter 6

_Dear Christina,_

_Congratulations on surviving the first little bit of school! I held off on writing to you for a few days because I wanted to give you time to properly adjust to a new school. It's important that you get acquainted and start getting to know the people in your class. _

_What I wanted to tell you back on the platform as the train was leaving was that I think I went there too. I think being on the platform jogged my memory, because now I remember standing there with my own luggage trolley wearing a school robe. Someone who was with me said I was a freak, someone named Tuney. I don't remember who she is but I intend to find out. _

_How are your classes going? How are your teachers? Do you have any favorites? Please tell me all about your new life. I'm so proud of you and everything you're doing. _

_Much love, Mum. _

Christina folded her mum's letter and tucked it safely inside her robes. Her mother had gone to school here too. It seemed impossible, that her own mother had walked these same halls for seven years. That she was a witch too.

"Christina come on!" Derrick called to her. "Don't want to be late for class!"

Christina picked up her bag and ran after her friends. Defense was her favorite class, along with most of the rest of the school. The only ones who didn't seem to like Professor Lupin were Draco Malfoy and his Slytherin posse. Professor Lupin always had something cool in store for the group. After the first practical lesson, he'd started them in the very basics of dueling. They knew how to bow, face each other and prepare to fight, and Lupin had promised to teach them a simple disarming spell soon.

Defense was the best class, but others were good too. Transfiguration was a lot of hard work, but McGonagall was a very good teacher. There was no tomfoolery in that class, and something about McGongall's firm demeanor made Christina want to rise to the occasion. Astronomy was lots of fun too, since you got to go out to the astronomy tower at midnight to chart the stars and the phases of the moon. Christina figured Hogwarts was probably the only school that held classes for eleven-year-olds at midnight. Flying was another good one, especially now that they were learning to fly higher and longer and take soaring loops around the castle.

Potions class might have been fun if they had a different teacher. It was fun to cut up and measure out strange, magical ingredients and watch them come together, but all the fun was squashed out by Professor Snape, the scariest teacher Christina had ever seen. His face was framed by greasy black hair and he had a habit of flapping around the classroom in his long black robes, giving him a ludicrous resemblance to a bat. His voice was cold and hard and he seemed to enjoy ridiculing students who messed up, especially Gryffindors. Worst of all was the weird way he kept looking at Christina, like he recognized her or expected her to recognize him. Snape was definitely a weirdo.

As the fall term progressed, the school began to look forward to the first Hogsmeade weekend, which happened to fall on the same day as the Halloween feast. Everyone third year and up was abuzz with excitement for Hogsmeade, while the others prepared for Halloween. For the first years and second years in Gryffindor, Percy Weasley had organized a house chess tournament in lieu of Hogsmeade, which nobody really wanted to go to but did so anyway out of politeness.

"Have you ever played chess before, Christina?" Percy asked as he set a chess board down in front of her.

"I played a little muggle chess back home. Is wizard chess different?"

"A little. The pieces move on their own, and all you have to do is call out where you'd like them to go. Do you want to try against me? I promise I'll go easy on you."

"Are you any good?" Christina asked as she picked up a pawn.

"I've been playing since I was about four. I'd say I do all right."

"He's plenty good." Said Colin Creevey, who had been sitting in an armchair looking through photos on his camera. "He taught Ron how to play, and Ron once won fifty house points for playing a great game of chess. I only wish I'd been there to see it."

"Wait, Ron won fifty points for a game of chess? What even is this school?"

"Ron won points for his role in helping to save the sorcerer's stone, which the chess was part of." Said Percy. "That was two years ago. Our defense professor, Professor Quierrell, was in league with you-know-who to steal the sorcerer's stone and use it to bring the dark lord back to life. However, Harry, Ron, and Hermione successfully stopped him from doing so."

"What'd the chess have to do with it?"

"One of the protections in place for the stone was a giant chess board which you had tospan class="Apple-converted-space" /spanplay on and win to get across." Said Percy. "Ron played for the black side and won safe passage for Harry and Hermione, even though he had to sacrifice himself in order to win. Needless to say we were all very proud of him back home."

"And then last year they saved us from the chamber of secrets." Said Colin.

"The what?"

"The chamber of secrets. When the school was being built, Salazar Slytherin built a secret chamber inside with some creepy evil stuff like a giant snake meant for his heir to use to kill muggleborns with. Last time it was opened, like fifty years ago, they managed to kill a girl named Myrtle. She haunts the second floor girls' bathroom if you want to go talk to her. She's kinda weird though. Anyway, everyone thought Harry was the heir of Slytherin because he can talk to snakes and stuff, but it turned out he wasn't. You-know-who was possessing Ginny and making her carry out evil stuff, until Harry destroyed the diary you-know-who was using to possess her. Don't mention it to Ginny," he added, "She's kind of sensitive about it."

"Wait, so Harry Potter's been involved in two fights with you-know-who in his time here?"

"Two here, three if you count when he faced you-know-who as a baby. Now he's got Sirius Black trying to kill him too."

"That must really suck for him." Said Christina.

"Yeah. I don't envy him. Except I kinda do because he's famous and all. He's so cool. Sometimes he kinda looks at me the way you look at an annoying pet, and I feel honored that he's looking at me. Oh here he comes now. Hi Harry!

"Hi Colin." Said Harry glumly as he walked into the common room.

"Not in Hogsmeade, Harry?" Percy asked.

"No, the Dursleys wouldn't sign my form. Professor McGonagall won't let me go either because of the whole Sirius Black thing." He slumped into a chair.

"Well, I've been holding a chess tournament for the younger students." Said Percy. "Care to join?"

"No, that's all right. Do you know when they'll get back from Hogsmeade?"

"Shouldn't be that much longer, since they do have the feast tonight to prepare for." Said Percy. "Your move, Christina."

Christina moved her knight and watched with satisfaction as it blasted Percy's bishop off the board. As few moves later and she found Percy's king backed into a corner with no way out. "Checkmate."

"Excellent job, Christina." Said Percy.

"You were going easy on me, weren't you."

"A little, yes. Had I been playing at full strength I probably would have knocked you out pretty early on. Good game. All right, I've got to go prepare for the feast since I do have important duties as head boy. See you later."

The only people left in the room besides Christina were Harry and Colin. Colin had gone back to fiddling with his camera and Harry looked like he didn't want to talk. He was just sitting in one of those squashy armchairs, staring deep into the fire. Perhaps he was worried about the whole situation with Sirius Black, or maybe he was just wondering about his friends. Christina tried to follow his gaze, but he wasn't looking at anything in particular. His green eyes were bright and intelligent.

Christina was about to head back to her room when Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, jumped into her lap. Christina smiled and sank her hands into his thick soft fur. He'd tried to eat Ron's rat a few nights ago, and most of Gryffindor house had witnessed it. Christina privately thought Scabbers looked more like roadkill than an actual pet, and that Crookshanks was justified in wanting to kill him. It was what cats did.

Ron and Hermione burst through the door a moment later carrying large bags of sweets. "Harry, we've bought you loads of stuff!" Ron yelled. "Peppermint toads, sugar quills, some chocolate . . . ooh, there's some squeaking sugar mice in here too!"

Harry perked up and began rummaging through the bag of sweets, which Christina took as her cue to leave. It was time to find her friends and go to the feast.

Sam and Derrick were already waiting outside the portrait hole. "You guys ready?" Asked Derrick. "I'm so excited. The Halloween feast is supposed to be one of the best at Hogwarts."

"Yeah, yeah, come on, let's go!" Abigail took the lead down the hallway. "What actually happens at the Halloween feast?"

"Well, it's a feast." Said Sam. "I've heard there's floating pumpkins and lots of candy." They ran down the passage towards the great hall.

Inside the great hall were Hagrid's pumpkins, big enough for a person to sit inside and lit up with colorful flames. Some of the smaller ones were filled with candy, which first years eagerly stuffed into their pockets, and even smaller ones hung in the air in place of the usual candles. The tables were spread with Hogwarts' best food, and even some muggle junk food like purple and orange Jell-o.

Christina and her friends all squeezed in at the Gryffindor table and began eating. The food was delicious, and Christina could see why everyone looked forward to the Halloween feast so much.

"So do wizards celebrate Halloween like muggles do?" Abigail asked.

"The weird thing about Halloween is it's when muggles engage with stuff they don't think actually exists, like witches and broomsticks and ghosts." Said Derrick. "It's always interesting to wander through muggle shops around this time and see what they're selling."

"Halloween's taking on a new meaning in the wizarding world too." Said Sam. "Since that's the day Harry Potter survived the killing curse. Lots of people would celebrate it as Harry Potter day back in the early eighties."

"It isn't celebrated like that anymore?" Asked Christina.

"Well, after Harry got to Hogwarts people were less keen on celebrating a random student who didn't even remember what he was famous for." Said Derrick. "Pus weird shit started happening on Halloween, did you hear about any of that Sam? Or did your brother?"

"Yeah, my brother's a year older than Harry." Said Sam. "He told me all about the troll in the dungeons during the Halloween feast a few years ago. And then the next year they found Filch's cat petrified after the feast."

"A quiet feast seems like too much to ask." Derrick grunted.

"Well, maybe this year will be different." Christina stabbed her fork into a mound of mashed potatoes.

"Let's hope so." Said Derrick. He leaned over to talk to Paolo and Andy, and soon the conversation turned to their latest transfiguration lesson and how Andy had messed up horribly and accidentally set fire to his quill.

As they headed back up to Gryffindor tower they were all feeling a little sleepy from the amount of food they's consumed, but they couldn't go to bed just yet: Fred and George had promised a house-wide Halloween party stocked with Hogsmeade sweets they'd bought earlier that day. Christina was wondering if magical parties were any different from muggle parties when she bumped into the person ahead of her.

"What's going on? Why are we stopped?" A crowd had formed in front of the Fat Lady, but no one had gone inside.

"Let me through!" Percy shouted. "Excuse me, I'm head boy!" The crowd parted to let him through, and as those in front moved away the ones behind gasped in horror. The Fat Lady's portrait had been slashed through, torn strips of canvas dangling over the edge of the frame. The Fat Lady herself was nowhere to be seen.

"What's going on?" Someone screamed.

"Someone get Dumbledore!" Percy shouted. "Get Dumbledore now!"

But Professor Dumbledore was already coming up the stairs, McGonagall and Filch in tow. He took in the slashed portrait, his face grim. "All you go down to the great hall, immediately! And Minerva, find the Fat Lady now."

"She's over there!" Said Dean Thomas, pointing to a picture on the opposite wall. The Fat Lady was squeezed in at a table full of monks, and one of them had offered her a tankard of ale to calm her down.

"My dear Lady," Said Dumbledore calmly, "Can you tell us who did this to you? Did you see his face?"

"It was him!" The Fat Lady screamed. "It was him! Sirius Black!"

"Argus, secure the castle!" Dumbledore bellowed. "Minerva, take your students down to the great hall."

"Come along, this way students!" McGonagall called. Her face was grim, even grimmer than the day Andy had accidentally set his quill on fire in class. She gripped her wand firmly. "No wandering off, any of you!"

The students poured into the great hall, the older ones clutching wands, the younger ones clinging to siblings and friends. Professor McGonagall waved her wand and hundreds of purple sleeping bags appeared on the floor. "It's safest for you all to sleep here tonight." She said. "We will search the castle for Black. In the meantime, make yourselves comfortable."

Soon enough they were joined by students from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Sam and Derrick extricated themselves from their houses and joined Christina and Abigail.

" "Is it true?" Said Derrick. "Did Sirius Black really cut up the portrait?"

"Yes, he did!" Said Abigail. "Or at least, that's what the Fat Lady said."

"Hogwarts is supposed to be the safest place in Britain!" Christina cried. "How did he get in?"

"He got out of Azkaban." Sam shuddered. "He can probably get in or out of anywhere he wants."

"It's bloody terrifying." Said Derrick. "At least Professor Dumbledore's guarding the great hall. No one can get past him."

"You're right about that." Said Abigail. "We're safe here, so we might as well get some sleep." She wiggled into her sleeping bag and the others followed suit. Students across the hall were also settling in for the night, and few minutes later Dumbledore dimmed the lights and took his post by the door.

"You know, today's twelve years since the Potters were murdered." Said Sam, her voice echoing in the darkness. "I'll bet you anything Black wanted to kill Harry on this day just to be symbolic or something."

Christina rolled over and didn't answer. It had just occurred to her that today was also twelve years since her mother's daring escape from someone bad and her horrible fall. Was it possible the two were connected?


	8. Chapter 7

The issue of Sirius Black and her mum had been plaguing Christina for several days, but she'd had to postpone any kind of investigation into the matter because of the approaching quidditch match. Apparently last year's tournament had been cut short because of the whole thing with the chamber of secrets, and now the whole school was hankering for a proper quidditch tournament.

Derrick was fully supporting Hufflepuff in the upcoming match and had taken to wearing a bright yellow cape with a badger painted on the back around the school. Christina and Abigail attempted to show him up by making lion capes at a Gryffindor poster-making party, but neither of them were great artists and the lions looked more like mutant golden retrievers. Sam was actively not taking sides and refused to wear a cape of any kind.

The day before the match, excitement running high, they went into defense class only to find Snape, in all his creepy glory, sitting where Lupin usually sat.

"Sit down, all of you. There will be no need for foolish wand-waving today."

"Excuse me sir, where's Professor Lupin?" Asked Derrick.

"Professor Lupin is ill today." Said Snape as he closed the window shades, plunging the room into darkness. "Turn to page 394."

Page 394 was near the back of the book and it was on werewolves, completely different from the simple dueling lessons they'd been doing.

"Didn't Professor Lupin leave a lesson plan?" Asked Andy. "I thought he wanted us to keep practicing Expeliarmus!"

"I am teaching today and you will do what I say, Sommers." Snape snarled. "Now turn to page 394." He stepped up to the front of the class. "We will be studying werewolves. Do any of you know what a werewolf is?"

"It's a human who changes into a wolf-like creature against their will, every month at the full moon." Said a Slytherin.

"Excellent. Ten points to Slytherin. Now, start reading. I want two rolls of parchment by Monday all about werewolves, with special emphasis on how to recognize one."

"But why werewolves?" Sam whispered to Christina. Christina shrugged.

"Did I give permission to speak?" Said Snape. "Ten points from Gryffindor."

"I'm not in Gryffindor, Christina is and she didn't even say anything." Said Sam. "If you're going to dock points, do so fairly."

"Fine. Ten points from Ravenclaw and detention for you, Miss Larkin."

Sam scowled at Snape and opened her book.

. . .

The next morning was cold and rainy, but Gryffindor house turned out anyway for the match. Everyone was bundled up in hats and scarves, and most students had umbrellas or plastic ponchos.

"Did you know Harry Potter's the youngest house seeker in a century?" Paolo shouted over the wind and rain as they headed out to the stands. "He's incredible! He caught the snitch in his mouth once!"

"Yeah, well, Cedric Diggory's better!" Said Derrick hotly. "He's a phenomenal player and he's literally the nicest person!"

"Nice doesn't matter on the quidditch pitch!" Said Paolo. "Diggory's no match for Potter. You'll see!"

"How long do quidditch matches last?" Asked Christina. "I want to get started on my herbology homework. Plus we've got Snape's essay."

"It only ends when the seeker catches the snitch." Said Paolo. "Which could be a while, in these conditions. Sometimes matches can go for days at a time."

"Hufflepuff's not a strong contender." Said Nora, who was walking between Andy and Paolo. "I think the match'll be over pretty quickly."

"Look, there's an open bench over there!" Said Sam. "You'll want to go higher up to get a better view of the players."

"All right, let's get it before someone else does." Nora ran over and stood on the bench, spreading her arms wide to claim it. "You lot can borrow my omniculars if you want, they're great for seeing what's actually happening on the pitch."

Down on the pitch, Madam Hooch released the balls and the players took to the air.

"Johnson starts out with the quaffle!" Lee Jordan shouted into his megaphone. "A swift pass to Spinnet, and Gryffindor is looking good. Potter and Diggory are circling to find the snitch. It's going to be very hard to spot in these conditions, folks!"

"How big is the snitch again?" Asked Abigail.

"It's about the size of a walnut." Said Sam. "Hard to find even on a clear day."

"And Gryffindor scores!" Lee shouted. The Gryffindor section leapt from their seats and began cheering and waving flags.

At some point Nora passed her omniculars to Christina and she trained them on the players. There was Wood, hovering in front of the goalposts, like he was only a few feet away. She moved them up to see Diggory, hovering in the air. Harry was a little further left, scanning the pitch with the same motion Diggory was. She turned the slow motion knob to watch Fred and George perfectly sink a bludger into the Hufflepuff keeper's face, allowing Alicia Spinnet to score.

"And the quaffle is back with Hufflepuff chaser Higgins!" Lee yelled. Christina pulled the omniculars away to see Hufflepuff zoom forward with the quaffle in real time.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Said Nora as Christina pried the ominculars off her face. "Just don't do the slow motion too much or you'll lose track of what's happening in real time."

Christina nodded and passed them back to Nora, who handed them off to Andy just in time to see a blunger narrowly miss Wood.

The weather got worse and worse throughout the match, with the strong wind and rain beating up on everyone. It only seemed to get colder as it went on, but then the temperature dropped sharply.

Despite already being quite tall, Nora had climbed up on the bench to get a better view. "Ohmigod!" She screamed. "Guys, look!"

Dementors were swarming the field, fluttering among the players. Christina felt the familiar cold feeling sink into her bones and could hear the woman's voice screaming again.

"Potter's fallen off his broom!" Andy shouted. His voice seemed a long way off. The woman's screams were getting louder, and Christina's vision was starting to go black. She tried to stay grounded at the quidditch pitch, but then her knees buckled and she fell face-first into the bleachers.

When Christina regained consciousness she was lying on her back in the hospital wing. She reached up to touch her aching forehead and found it was wrapped in a heavy bandage.

"What happened?"

"You passed out again." Said Sam, who looked very pale. "We were all watching Potter fall off his broom, and none of us noticed that you were affected too until it was too late. I'm sorry. You face-planted into the bleachers. Derrick picked you up and took you inside."

Christina looked up at Derrick. His sweater was covered in blood. "Is that all mine? Was I bleeding?"

"You split your forehead open on the bleacher in front of us." Said Derrick.

"Head wounds can bleed a lot sometimes, which makes them seem scarier than they actually are." Said Madame Pomfrey. "You've had a nasty bump, but you'll be fine. Are you in any pain? There's a pain relief potion on this table, along with some chocolate. Chocolate helps greatly after a dementor attack, so I insist that you eat some. Now if you'll excuse me, I must attend to Mister Potter."

"What happened to Harry? What happened to the match?"

"Harry fell a long way until Professor Dumbledore used a spell to slow him down." Said Sam. "He was unconscious for a long time. Diggory caught the snitch right after."

"He was calling for a rematch." Said Derrick. "Said it wasn't fair. Gotta love him."

"So Gryffindor lost?"

Sam nodded. "It was horrible. Gryffindor should've won against a team like Hufflepuff. No offense, Derrick. Oliver Wood's distraught."

Christina peeked around the edge of the curtain between the beds to see Harry surrounded by other members of the Gryffindor team. Wood was notably absent.

Sam checked her watch. "I've got detention with Snape in ten minutes. Are you going to be all right, Christina?"

"I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Said Derrick. "I want to go change into a clean sweater, but I don't want to leave you alone."

"No, you guys go on ahead. I want to ask Potter something."

Christina waited until the other members of the Gryffindor team had drifted away to take showers, and it was just Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the shattered remains of the Nimbus 2000 left. She'd have better luck talking to him with fewer people around. She chugged the pain relief potion, crammed a square of chocolate into her mouth, then took and deep breath and got up to go and see Harry.

"Excuse me? Harry Potter? Can I talk to you for a sec?"

The three of them stared at her. Christina realized she looked a little odd, soaking wet with a bloody bandage on her head and chocolate smeared on her hands.

"Err . . . ok. Christina, right? First year?" Harry sounded confused but polite.

Hermione nodded and dragged Ron away.

"Look, I wanted to ask you—err—well—do you know why you keep passing out when the dementors are around?"

"No, and I'd appreciate it if people would stop gossiping about it!"

"No, it's not that! It's that I passed out too, first on the train and then at the match. I hit the bleachers when I fell and cracked my head open." Christina touched the bandage on her forehead. "I don't know why it happens. I heard it happened to you too and I was hoping maybe you knew."

"No, I don't." His voice was quieter this time. "I wish I did. I really do. I'm sorry."

"That's all right. Hey, have you had any chocolate yet? Madame Pomfrey says it's good for dementor attacks. She left some by my bed." She reached around the curtain, grabbed a piece, and handed it to him. "Sorry about your broom, by the way."


	9. Chapter 8

Lilly was reeling with all the letters she'd received from her daughter over the last few months. They were filled with words she didn't know—dementor, counter-jinx, quaffle. Then there was the horrible news from the wizarding world of the escaped convict who wanted to kill a student, who had even broken into the school and slashed the portrait that guarded Gryffindor tower. But most worrisome were the names Christina dropped in her letters, names of professors, names that hovered on the edge of familiarity.

Lupin, the defense professor. Christina had mentioned how everyone loved Lupin's classes, and how he'd disappeared last week. But Lupin disappeared every month, right? Lilly couldn't place how she knew that. But Lupin disappeared every month, along with—along with—who? Once again, memory failed her. But this Lupin, this Remus Lupin, was someone she'd known. He liked chocolate. He was thin and delicate. He . . . he was a friend?

Then there was Black, the man who'd broken out of prison and wanted to kill a thirteen-year-old student. His name was familiar too. Had he been a friend? But had she been friends with a mass murderer in school? It didn't feel right. Black. He'd run around with Lupin and someone else, another friend. He was bold and mischievous. But that couldn't be right. Lupin wouldn't be friends with someone like that, and neither would she.

And Snape, the most interesting one of all. According to Christina he was cold, harsh, creepy, and never washed his hair. She didn't like this teacher at all, though she seemed to like the concept of potions class. Despite this, Lilly was sure Snape had been a friend of hers. He wasn't a warm or friendly person, and yet he sounded so, so familiar, so . . . trustworthy? He wasn't like Black and Lupin; he went back even further, into childhood. She'd met him when they were kids, she was sure of it.

Lilly took out a sheet of paper and wrote down the words Severus Snape. Who was he? She closed her eyes, trying to conjure up some image. He . . . he was wearing a woman's blouse? Lilly frowned. That couldn't be . . . no, he was. He'd looked strange, frightening almost. She hadn't been frightened of him, but someone else had. Lilly groaned in frustration. She needed more information, but Christina only mentioned that Snape had given them a long essay on werewolves and that she didn't like him, which wasn't enough to jog her memory. She remembered her childhood in Cokeworth. She must have met Snape there. Perhaps Cokeworth was the memory jog she needed.

That very weekend Lilly hopped in her car and went there. She didn't have to drag a whining child behind her or worry about who was going to take Christina to dance class or what to make for dinner. She'd be fine with greasy fast food somewhere on the road. This awful limbo between memory and forgetfulness had to stop. She needed to know who she was, where she'd come from. For her sake and Christina's.

She wasn't looking for any specific place. Out of some dormant instinct she slid to stop by a playground on the outskirts of town, down closer to Spinner's End. The play structures were shrouded in fog and the swings drifted in the bitter November wind. Mud and dead leaves squished under Lilly's feet as she drew her coat tightly around her body. She sat down heavily on one of the little swings and suddenly a thousand sunny summer days came flooding back to her; how she'd come to this very playground, swung on the swings, picked flowers, made mud pies, all in the shadow of that huge factory chimney. Lilly began to swing back and forth. The swings had been her favorite. She began to swing higher, then launched herself from the swing the way all children did.

"Mummy told you not to!" A shrill voice rang in Lilly's ears as her feet slammed into the ground. She rocked forward on to her knees as Tuney's voice called out, "Stop it! Stop it!" Lilly picked herself up, shuddering. Tuney—Petunia—was her sister. She hadn't wanted Lilly to go away to school. Lilly looked down and saw mud soaking the knees of her slacks. She walked back to the swing and went again. This time when she launched herself off, she hung gently in the air, her feet landing perfectly on the ground and not even squelching in the mud. Lilly laughed out loud. She was a witch, she was! She could do magic, she really could. What could she do with a wand?

" A small noise from the play structure caught her ears. Lilly looked around and saw a mom with two kids giving her a dirty look. It did look weird, after all. Here she was, a thirty-three-year-old woman, playing by herself at the park like a kid. Lilly awkwardly stepped away from the swingset.

"Are you here with someone?" The woman asked.

Lilly sighed. This woman was one of _those_ moms. "No, I'm here on my own." It was a free country. "I'm taking a walk down memory lane. I grew up here."

The woman's demeanor changed completely. "Oh really? I grew up here too. Now I'm raising my Aiden and Katie here too."

"I'm trying to jog my memories of my childhood. Since you grew up here, do you remember anything about a set of sisters called Evans? Or a Severus Snape?"

"Oh, I remember the Evans girls, Lilly and Petunia. They were both a few years ahead of me in school. I looked up to them both. As for Severus Snape, he lived down by Spinner's End. Absolute weirdo. He became friends with the younger sister, though. They were joined at the hip for a couple years there. Then they both went off to some exclusive private school in Scotland and we never saw them again."

"Do you know anything about the rest of the family?"

"The parents died over ten years ago now. Not a mark on them. Authorities blamed it on a gas leak. The sister, Petunia, lives in Surrey now. She's done well for herself."

"Thank you." Lilly whispered. She'd had a gut feeling her parents might not be around any more, but her sister was still out there somewhere. Lilly set off down the street, not really sure what she was looking for. She didn't remember an address or any place else in the town and it was too cold and wet to spend extensive time wandering around, so eventually she got into her car and drove away. Still, the trip to Cokeworth had been enlightening. She just wished she could've found out more about Christina's professors and why they all sounded so familiar.


	10. Chapter 9

Not long after the disastrous quidditch match against Hufflepuff, snow began to fall at Hogwarts. After classes ended one day a big group of first years went down to the grounds and had a huge snowball fight. Afterwards, faces red from the cold and snow melting on their eyelashes, they went inside for hot chocolate and listened to the Weasley twins tell the story of how they'd unknowingly bewitched snowballs to hit Voldemort's face in their third year.

The lake began to freeze over too, and a few Ravenclaws taught most of the school a simple spell to convert regular shoes into ice skates. This was great fun despite the bumps and bruises one got from falling. It went on until a fourth year fell through the ice and Professor McGonagall told them they were only allowed to skate where the ice was thick enough to hold Hagrid's weight.

On a cold, snowy Saturday when most of the school was at Hogsmeade again, Christina finally found time to go to the library for a purpose unrelated to school work. She had two separate trains of thought she needed to research, the dementors and any possible connection between Sirius Black and her mum. She happened to come across a book titled "Field Guide to Dementors, Boggarts, and Other Nasty Creatures" and took it down from the shelf. The book detailed how dementors sucked the happiness and life out of everything. They were also guards at Azkaban, used to keep morale low. Christina saw now why Black would rather be a wanted criminal than stay in that place. For the worst criminals of all, the dementors would suck their souls out through their mouths, a fate worse than death. Christina turned the page, wondering if the book held any information on how to deal with them. Sure enough, there was a paragraph on something called the patronus charm.

"It's very advanced magic." Said Sam at dinner. "They usually don't start teaching it until you hit NEWT level. Even most seventh years can't do it."

"Maybe they can make an exception for me." Said Christina. "I passed out and got hurt last time one was around. Surely they'd make an exception for students' safety."

"You've seen what goes on in this school." Derrick snorted. "Do you think student safety is anyone's priority? Malfoy got his arm slashed open in care of magical creatures class. That was in a class, with a teacher right there!"

"You can always ask." Said Sam. "But the thing is none of us are very skilled wizards yet. We can barely turn key rings into rubber bands."

"Who do I ask? McGonagall?"

Sam frowned. "I think Lupin's your best bet. He is the one who teaches us to defend ourselves against stuff like this. But McGonagall probably knows too."

"McGonagall just raises an eyebrow and the dementors run away." Said Derrick.

"But I hate to bother Professor Lupin. He always looks so sickly and frail. Plus he was ill again last week. What if this job is stressing him out too much?"

"Maybe you should wait until after the Christmas holidays." Said Sam. "The holidays'll do a lot of good for him. Everyone could use a break."

"Yeah, and besides," Said Derrick, "that's some hard magic. You don't want extra lessons right before Christmas and neither does he.

"Yeah, I'd rather not try to learn a hard spell right now." Said Christina. "It's almost Christmas. I don't want to do anything, but we've still got Snape's essay and we have to turn in our moon charts by the end of the week!" Professor Sinistra had had them chart the phases of the moon since September and wanted them to turn it in as a neat report.

"Oh I need to work on that." Derrick muttered. "I wrote down what phase it was in, but I didn't take any observations like she told us too. I'll either make them up or copy off someone else."

"I'm worried my observations are too repetitive." Said Sam.

""It's just the moon, it's not like you'll see something new and different every night." Said Christina.

"That's true." Said Derrick. "Hey, the moon was full last week, right? That was when I missed class because I had that stomach flu and Madame Pomfrey held me hostage in the hospital wing."

Christina checked her chart. "Yeah, it was full on Tuesday. That was when Lupin was out too."

"That stomach flu must be going around." Said Abigail.

"That's weird. I didn't see Lupin in the hospital wing." Derrick was fiddling with the end of his wand. "But he would've been there, right? He was sick the same time I was. Roger Davies was there puking his guts out and Blaise Zabini was complaining about how his head hurt the whole time, but no Lupin."

"Maybe the teachers go somewhere else when they're sick."

"But why would they?" Said Sam. "Madame Pomfrey's one of the best around, except for maybe St. Mungo's, but people only go there if it's really, really bad."

"Maybe Professor Lupin needs a special doctor for whatever he has." Said Christina.

Christina frowned. "He does seem to be out about once a month. Maybe it's some kind of chronic condition that flares up every now and then."

"That's true." Said Sam. "It might be something that's beyond even Madame Pomfrey's skills."

Derrick was scratching away at his moon chart, writing in the phases and surreptitiously copying off Abigail's observations. He frowned and scratched behind his ear with his quill. "He's been gone pretty consistently right around the full moon. Maybe he's a werewolf."

"Don't be ridiculous." Said Sam.

"Wait, werewolves exist in the wizarding world?" Christina asked.

"They definitely do." Said Derrick. "As a general rule, if you've heard about something in a muggle fairy tale like goblins or trolls or mermaids, they exist in the wizarding world. We've even got centaurs who live in the forbidden forest."

"There's no way Lupin's a werewolf." Said Sam. "They're incredibly dangerous creatures; Dumbledore would never hire one to teach students. It must be something else. A chronic condition, like Christina said."

"Yeah, a chronic condition that flares up regularly every month at the full moon." Derrick snorted.

Christina pulled out her potions book and a roll of parchment and set them on the table. "Look, I don't care whether Professor Lupin's a werewolf or not. I'm still gonna ask him about that dementor charm next term. And now I'm going to start Professor Snape's essay."


	11. Chapter 10

"You've got your bag?"

"Yeah."

"And you're sure you packed up everything?"

"Uh huh."

"Ok." Lilly hugged Christina tightly. "Have a good next term. And please remember to look for an old yearbook in the library when you have time."

"Bye Mum." A cold winter wind blew across the platform as Christina got onto the train. The Christmas holidays had been quiet. They'd had a little Christmas dinner with some friends, and Christina had gotten a chance to use Hogwarts' booklet of pre-fabricated lies to help students safely tell muggle friends about their new school. According to the booklet, Hogwarts was actually Hoggarton Academy for Gifted Children, an exclusive private school up in Scotland that used innovative teaching methods to shape young minds, or something like that.

Christina had gotten some muggle stuff from her mum for Christmas but also a new book called Quidditch Through The Ages, which was especially important because Madame Hooch was going to start teaching them the fundamentals of quidditch this term. She'd spent hours by the fireplace paging though it and reading about all seven hundred ways one could commit a foul.

She'd also gotten new wizard stuff from her friends. Derrick had sent her something called a sneakoscope, which was supposed to light up when enemies were around. Christina wasn't sure she had any enemies for it to detect. Derrick had sent a note saying sneakoscopes were really cool and that it would come in handy if Black broke into the castle again, which Christina didn't think was likely. Abigail had gone a more practical route and sent a box of chocolate frogs. The first one Christina bit into had Dumbledore inside it. She set it aside and figured now was as good a time as any to start her own chocolate frog card collection. Sam had sent her a fresh box of quills because Christina turned out to have an extraordinary talent for losing them. Seriously, she'd come to school with a set of twelve and now could only find three.

She also had a hastily-scribbled note from her mum with information she needed to find in the library. Her mum wanted her to search for old Hogwarts yearbooks to see if they could find her old school photos. She also wanted Christina to look up anything on Snape, Black, and Lupin, since the names had all sounded familiar.

Christina tucked the note in her bag and went off to find her friends. The train was pretty full because most students had gone home for the holidays; no one had wanted to stay alone in the castle while Sirius Black was on the loose.

"Christina! Christina!" Colin Creevey was coming down the corridor, wearing a new scarf. "Did you hear? Harry Potter got a firebolt for Christmas!"

"A firebolt? Isn't that the fastest broom in the world?"

"It sure is! But get this—I heard from Ginny, who heard from Ron—McGonagall thinks Sirius Black sent him the broom and she took it away from him to check for curses and jinxes!"

"She thinks Sirius Black sent him the broom?"

"Yeah, with some kind of hurling hex or something to knock him off. He probably knows Harry loves quidditch, I mean, everyone knows he's the youngest house seeker in a century."

"But how's Gryffindor supposed to play now?" Christina cried. "He can't play without a proper broom. He's on a shooting star, you've seen those things . . . And Gryffindor's got to win the cup!"

"I know! It's like McGonagall is trying to sabotage her own team."

"Why, McGonagall? Why?" Christina threw her hands in the air. "Well, at least she's putting student safety first."

"Safety last!" Colin yelled. "Gryffindor's got to win the cup!"

"I don't know if I'd go that far, but he should get his broom back."

"Yeah. With any luck he'll have it back before the next match." Colin sighed. "All right, I'm off to go find Ginny and Luna. See you later."

"But it's not like Sirius Black could just wander into Quality Quidditch Supplies and get a broom." Said Abigail. "Or if he could, then the Wizarding World might want to tighten up its security measures."

"The sooner they catch him the better." Christina groaned. "Then life could be normal."

The first day of classes was cold; the snow had partially melted over break and reformed with a layer of ice on top, now accompanied by a bitter wind. Fortunately the only time they had to go outside was to get to the greenhouses for Herbology. From the steamy fogged-up windows of the greenhouses they could just make out Hagrid's third-years glumly tending to the flobberworms. Astronomy lessons were temporarily moved indoors to study old star charts in the library, and flying lessons were canceled until the winds let up. The quidditch team was still at it though, poor Harry flying one of the terrible shooting star brooms because McGonagall still had his firebolt.

Professor Lupin was teaching them a new disarming spell that could knock an enemy's wand right out of their hand, stating that even a simple spell like that could be very effective.

"Can we use this if Sirius Black ever breaks into the castle again?" Paolo asked.

"You may certainly try," said Professor Lupin, "However Black does not have a wand on him. But for any foe you face with a wand, this spell renders them temporarily powerless. divide up into pairs, and let's begin.

Christina paired off with Abigail, ten feet apart, and leveled her wand at Abigail's chest. "Experliarmus!" Nothing happened.

"Try again!" Abigail gripped her wand tighter.

"Expeliarmus!" Abigail's wand gave a feeble twitch.

"Christina, you need a firmer wand motion." Said Professor Lupin. "You're commanding an enemy's wand to leave his hand; you need to be firmer."

Christina nodded.

"Homework for all of you: practice!" Lupin called to the room at large.

As Christina gathered up her books and parchment, she remembered the patronus spell she'd wanted to ask about. She nervously approached Professor Lupin's desk.

"You enjoy the lesson, Christina?" Professor Lupin pulled out a stack of graded papers from a different class. "Merlin's beard, you'd think sixth years would know the difference between inferi and ghosts. What was Lockhart doing with them? Anyway, what can I do for you?"

"Do you remember that quidditch match where Gryffindor lost because of the dementors?"

"I do indeed. Terrible. But if you're looking for someone to talk sports with, I'm afraid I'm not the person for that."

"No, it was about the dementors. I passed out in the stands and split my head open. I read about a charm that you can use to keep dementors away."

Lupin was quiet for a moment, twisting his wand in his fingers. Finally he said, "The patronus charm is a powerful spell that uses happy memories to keep dementors at bay. However, it's very complex magic. I'm sorry, but there's no way you learn it. Probably not until your fifth year, at the very earliest."

"But I passed out when one was around!"

"What happened at the quidditch match was an anomaly. It should not have happened, plain and simple. As long as you stay out of their way, you should have no need of the patronus charm. If you don't mind me asking, did you pass out on the train as well?"

Christina nodded.

"Potter was similarly affected on the train. Luckily for him I was in the same compartment and made sure he went up to the hospital wing as soon as we arrived. Dementors feed upon our darkest memories, and as you know Harry Potter has unique horrors in his past. I don't want to pry, but you may have something similar these dementors could prey upon."

"Probably my mum's accident." Lupin nodded and Christina went on. "When I was a baby, Mum had some kind of accident and lost her memory. We don't know why she left somewhere in such a hurry, or how she sustained such brain damage."

Lupin was quiet again. "That's a sad story too. Is your mother muggle?"

Christina nodded. "I think so. She reckons she might have been magic, but I don't know."

Sixth year students were starting to file into the classroom now. "Well, thanks anyway Professor Lupin." Christina picked up her bag and left.


End file.
